Tlud gassifier with awesome mods by Karl J. Frogner, PhD

I love being a charmaster and I love having a website that people are happy to use. So to all you readers check this out…

Introducing the UB 200 l natural draft Tlud gassifier oven 2 July ‘11

Ulaanbaatar

E, Dolph, aloha kaua-

Just came upon your web page and thought you might like to take a look at the modifications we made to John Rogers’ 200 l TLUD based on what little I know from a bit of reading of TLUDs.

I’ll send a set of pictures that should give you the basic idea if your page input allows me to, otherwise send me an email address and I’ll send them.

An extended set of pictures is available that I would be happy to send if you think they would help. We are calling it the UB 200 l natural draft TLUD oven, or the UB T- oven or t-oven for short. But please, please, please don’t call it a stove.

Only a power drill and a power grinder are needed to make the design, although the student who was doing the work had access to a welder and used it to put the handles on the slip rings on the primary air & afterburner air, the male slip coupe for the chimney and the handle for the chimney flue. Easy workarounds could be used if welding is a problem.

I’ve run two trials so far, both with cow manure that was air dried after being shoveled out of the cowshed. Both runs were smokeless. The first, in which hand to 20-30 x 20-30 x 5-10 cm sized on down burned down in 55 min, the second that was filled with fairly uniform 7-10 x 7-10 x 5-10 pieces together with the fins from chopping up the larger pieces burned down in 1 hr 40 min. The charing was compleat throughout the charge, slightly oily on the rub to the hand rub test.

Another run was made (I was absent) using birch branch & twigs segments (2 cm on down) about 10 cm long. They had smoke problems with keeping the afterburner lit in an exposed site on a windy day, but the char came out good. Devising a wind shield should not be much of a problem.

biochar Tlud Gasifier Primary air hole pattern

3: The circled square pattern of 45 holes, each 13 mm in diameter.

We are very interested in developing these large TLUDs for getting serious amounts of biochar into the ground, leveraging smallholder benefits of biochar in sustainable rural development into timely climate change mitigation. We are thinking of initiating another sib-project based on a virtual community of low-tech biochar producers, TLUD designers and tinkers who would want to test and improve the design. Joining might be a good sub project for your Biochar Project or any of your interested readers.

I am so very happy to see our biochar project family extending to all corners of our planet. Yes I know it is impossible for a round planet to have corners:P.

Thank you Karl and thank you to your assistant(s) for inspiring sustainable biochar, Reusing, Refashioning, Repairing, Reinventing and of course sharing (Y)our Biochar Project with the world.

If you folks are ever in Australia come stay with me for a visit and I will treat you like the royalty you are. On behalf of Biochar Industries, Biochar Project and Biochar enthusiast the world over we salute you.

4 July ‘11 Ulaanbaatar Aloha kakou- The names of those helping me pictured (l to r) are Boldkhuu & Bayarsaikhan Narmandakh. Both are graduate students at Mongolia State University of Agriculture and Nara is also Founder & Exective Director of the Mongolian Biochar Association and Translator and sometimes Liaison Officer for UBI International.

I am fascinated by your modified T-Lud. I have been experimenting for a few weeks trying to make char out of woodchip. Trouble is that I’m in the UK and it’s almost impossible to dry the chip. But I am having some success with damp chip.

I am interested that you have a chimney damper. Before I spend time fitting one to the steel drum kilns I am working on, is a damper really helpful? What purpose has it, does it help?

Hello Richard, The modified T-Lud was made by Dr Karl and his gang of students. I can help you understand the damper it slows the flow of exhaust gases so that they have a residence time long enough for the afterburner to clear out the volatiles if any.

Usually in start up and shut down. Perhaps Dr Karl might see and give us a expert opinion.

With your wood chip drying I have a solution for you. I saw it some time ago in some list somewhere so chances are I can’t put my hands on it readily so I will try and Texplain it for you.

Create some kind of a wall with 3 sides out of bessa blocks or something. Say 1 meter square. Make a rocket stove at one end and use a flue pipe to go from the rocket stove top across to the back of the wall then 90degrees up the back wall. So it looks like you have a rocket stove with a long horizontal chimney that goes across the floor then up the wall. Place all wet wood chips on and around the flue pipe pile em up full in the wall area.

Light the rocket stove up and watch as your chips start to dry quick you will notice the chips directly above the flue dry first and then you will see the rest dry it is fabulos to watch. Dry in about 2 hours make sure you keep an eye on it as the chips could ignite from the heat once all dry.